This week I’ve been putting memory foam pillows to the test to see whether I can get a better night sleep with a more supportive pillow. If you’ve been following my sleep challenge you’ll know that it has now turned into a massive bedroom makeover – I’ve even wallpapered my walls with books. Today, I’m going back to the root of the challenge, which is improving my sleep as a whole, and not just decorating!
I’ve tried out these memory foam pillows from Dunelm and to begin with they felt really heavy and dense – much ‘sturdier’ than my old bounce-back pillows. I have to be pretty careful with the type of pillow that I sleep on – some pillows simply no good for my neck which has previously suffered from whiplash. Any pillow that isn’t ‘my’ pillow, such as hotels, or staying at friends’ houses results in a painful crick in the neck which can last for days. So I was skeptical about changing my pillows, especially to one that seemed harder and more likely to push my dodgy neck into an uncomfortable position.
Oh how wrong I was. I have had nothing but good nights’ sleep on these pillows and I wake up feeling as if I haven’t even got a neck, and definitely no pain. The memory foam supports my neck in exactly the right position and my head feels practically weightless. I find that I move around less during the night and the pillows bounce right back into their puffed-up shape in the morning. So no problems to report and definitely a better, deeper sleep – plus less pain than I’ve ever experience to date, so that can only be a good thing and I’ll be taking these pillows with me wherever I sleep from now on!
Here are some more of the top tips I’ve been following by Dunelm to make the most of my sleep routine:
- Make sure that you have the right pillow for how you sleep. For example, people who sleep on their front usually need a softer pillow than people who sleep on their side. Here’s our guide to picking the right pillow for you: http://www.dunelm-mill.com/info/pillows
- Help increase your melatonin production by wearing a sleep mask to block out extra light
- If you find yourself awake, try to focus on relaxing as your goal, rather than falling back to sleep. Remind yourself that deep relaxation can still help rejuvenate the body
- If you’re prone to drifting off on the sofa in front of the TV, resist the drowsiness by doing something like washing the dishes or sorting things out for the next day – or take yourself off to bed straight away if it’s nearly your bedtime. If you nod off you may find it harder to sleep all through the night
